The Misadventures of Zodiac and Cub
by Skarrow
Summary: Sakura is a traveling astrologist. Gaara is a mama's boy. Combined, they have the worst sense of direction ever. Together, they deal with the supernatural while stumbling around the countryside. [AU]
1. I - The Voice that Calls From the Cage

_In the desert, there is a voice ringing out that no one can get used to._

* * *

After traveling nonstop over the past three hours, Sakura spotted an oasis and decided to take a short break. She had been trying to get the sand out of her boots when the sound of crunching footsteps disturbed the stillness of the desert air.

Next came the noise of someone clearing his throat. "Excuse me. Are you heading west?"

Standing at the very edge of the small clearing was a male. From this distance, Sakura immediately noticed the way he held himself - deceptively casual, with no obvious openings. There were no visible weapons on his person but her sharp gaze caught the telltale signs of a blade hidden in the folds of his clothing. Definitely a shinobi, or someone with shinobi training.

About eight feet of loose sand separated them; if he rushed her, she'd have to jump behind the rock formation she was sitting on to keep from getting cornered. It wasn't often she fought enemies on this kind of terrain, but she could adapt.

"Yes. I'm going to Sunagakure," Sakura answered eventually.

"In that case, I would like to accompany you. Do you mind?"

The man took slow steps closer, as if not to alarm her, and Sakura finally got a better look at his appearance. Unlike herself, he was properly dressed for the desert climate. He had messy red hair, dark-ringed eyes, and surprisingly young - if stern - features. Actually, Sakura had believed he was an older man from the sound of his voice. But seeing him close up, she guessed they were more or less the same age.

"I don't mind. Uh. Are you lost?"

"Yes. I can't seem to find my way through the desert."

"That's awful!"

Sakura wasn't being sarcastic. Unlike Kakashi-sensei who claimed to get lost on the road of life, Sakura herself didn't have a great sense of direction. It took her at least a month and a half to get used to a new place, and it was a pain in the neck every single time.

The man grunted in agreement, taking a seat on a different stone at an acceptable distance. "It has been eight years since I last spoke to a traveler."

It took four seconds for her brain to register the man's nonchalant remark.

"...Eight years?!" Sakura spluttered.

His jade colored gaze slid towards her. "Indeed. It seems strange, but I haven't been able to leave in all that time."

* * *

 **The Misadventures of Zodiac and Cub**

 **Episode 1: "The Voice that Calls From the Cage"  
**

* * *

"So you're a local?" Sakura asked Gaara after they'd gone through their introductions. It was almost noon, and they were now journeying side by side through the desert, with Sakura taking the lead. Her attention was split between talking to her new companion and keeping track of their surroundings. "It's not like you can't tell where the sun is. How do you keep getting lost?"

Gaara remained outwardly stoic, but out of the corner of her eye she saw him clench his fist slightly. "I don't understand it, either."

"Don't worry! Now that you're with me, you'll be in Suna in no time at all!"

"Thank you."

They climbed over a tall dune, and Sakura's smile dropped when she saw a familiar oasis in the distance instead of the walls of Suna that she'd been expecting.

Somehow, even though they'd been walking along the route she'd drawn up, the pair had ended up right back where they had first met!

...No, wait. That's crazy.

There had to be more than one oasis in this desert, and she was absolutely sure she had been following the correct route the entire time. She'd most likely just miscalculated the distance. The heat was getting to her, so she got confused.

Sakura sighed and wiped her brow with her shirt sleeve. When they reached the new oasis, she took out her compass and her map to double check her position. Meanwhile Gaara had quietly taken a seat near the water's edge. "Why are you going to Suna, Sakura-san?" He rasped.

"Huh? Um. I'm looking for something, and my search brought me out here." Sakura scratched her temple with the flat end of the pencil. "It's related to my work."

"And what is your occupation?"

"I'm what you'd call a zodiac!" Sakura said proudly.

"A zodiac." Gaara repeated the word to himself a couple more times. "Unfortunately, I do not know what a zodiac is."

"Oh. Err- I study the stars, the planets and other heavenly bodies," she clarified. "I also study their influences on human behavior."

"So you're an astrologist?"

"I guess? All zodiacs are astrologists, but not all astrologists are zodiacs. The difference between the two is, one of them attempts to directly manipulate the effects of the stars' influence."

As they chatted with each other, Sakura finally finished looking over her map and hurriedly began putting away her tools. "Okay, so we just need to keep moving west from here, and we should be at Sunagakure before dark!"

When Gaara remained silent, she turned to look at him. He was staring at the water, his body completely still. His brow was furrowed.

Come to think of it, for a man who claims to have been lost in the desert for years, his skin was pretty pale. Weird.

"Gaara, um. Is something the matter?"

Gaara rose to his feet. "...No, there is nothing wrong. Shall we go?"

This desert was bigger than Sakura had anticipated, but the route wasn't any different from before. She had simply recalculated her arrival time at Suna and the distance she needed to cover. Even with her temporary tag-along, her travel speed didn't drop in the slightest.

So after nearly thirty minutes of walking, Sakura had to admit that there was something afoot.

The first time it had happened, she'd brushed it aside as a coincidence, or a trick of the desert heat. But after passing the exact same oasis four more times, Sakura was beginning to panic.

"What?! I'm back again?!" She wailed after climbing over yet another tall dune and catching sight of the exact. Same. Oasis. For the fifth time. Behind her, Gaara was sweating just as much as she was, and was slowly making his way up to where she stood. "What's going on? My compass isn't broken, and my map is accurate! My sense of direction isn't _that_ bad!"

"Let's rest for awhile," Gaara suggested softly once he'd reached her side. "The sun is at its zenith; we need to take shelter."

Sakura sighed, but she followed the redhead back to the oasis without complaint.

Under the shade of a tree, Sakura stared at the clear blue sky. It never lied to her in the past, and she was banking on that fact.

...-Right there. It was tiny, but it was definitely the planet Venus, almost as bright as a star. And just above the horizon was Mercury.

Not a lot of enemy shinobi thought of the sky when constructing a genjutsu. So searching the sky and the placement of heavenly bodies was one of several methods Sakura used to determine whether or not she was in an illusion without tipping off the enemy. And as far as she could tell, with the planets and the lack of foreign chakra saturating the air, this strange phenomenon wasn't a genjutsu of any sort.

Which confused her even further.

Sakura shoved her fingers through her hair. "We started going out west. But the route took a turn, and another turn... and even more turns. We've gone in a complete circle!"

Gaara gestured to the spot next to her. When she nodded, he sat down under the shade as well, making sure there was ample space between them. "That's right. I became unable to go in the direction I wanted to go. Unable to leave."

Sakura winced. She couldn't wrap her mind around getting stuck in the desert for eight years like he'd claimed. How would she survive? How would she stay sane?

"What is going on...?" Sakura groaned, dropping her face into her hands. "Don't tell me I'm stuck here, too!"

"Since it's come to this, you can live here with us."

"Don't. Even. Joke about that."

It didn't matter if he was polite, and happened to be good-looking in a kinda fierce, yet kinda delicate way. Sakura was in a hurry to get to Suna, otherwise the trail she was following would grow even colder!

Sakura jerked her head up and stared at him.

"-Wait. There are more of you?"

Gaara nodded. "A young couple lived here from the start. And I've been-"

Suddenly, a third voice intruded into the conversation. "Gaara! There you are! I've been looking for you, it's lunchtime!" A smiling older woman with short brown hair had entered the oasis from the other side of the pool, and was making her way towards them. Unlike Gaara, she did not appear to have trained in the shinobi arts. She wasn't using chakra to walk over the sand, and her movements were decidedly too awkward for one.

Gaara rose to his feet and met the older woman halfway, automatically reaching out to help her. "Sakura-san. This is my mother, Karura. My grandmother is already dead, so the two of us have been living together in the desert."

"Oh, a traveler! That's quite rare," Karura exclaimed. "Sakura-san was it? I'm pleased to meet you."

Sakura bowed and returned the sentiments. "Then I shall be off. Gaara-san, Karura-san. I don't want to intrude on your lunch."

"Sakura-san, I'm sorry for imposing on you." Gaara stepped forward. "I'll be heading home now. You are welcome to stay for a little while, if you like."

"Thanks for offering, but I'm going to try a few different methods." She seriously couldn't stay any longer than necessary. Sakura wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet.

"What a shame. I haven't spoken to anyone besides Gaara for so long." Karura's eyes gleamed mischievously. "Won't you reconsider? It isn't everyday my son invites a lady to our home!"

Sakura's face flushed with embarrassment. "Um," she protested descriptively. She never knew how to deal with adults who teased her, and she wasn't about to start now. "I'm sorry," Sakura repeated weakly.

"I see." Gaara held out his arm to his mother, letting Karura hold onto him for support. "Then... have a good time."

Sakura watched the mother-son pair walk away from the clearing, and frowned.

 _Have a good time_? What a weird thing to say.

Something wasn't quite right here, but time was of the essence. All Sakura could do was continue trying to find Sunagakure. Hopefully, she'd break out of this- this- _whatever_ it was, and soon.

Sakura was prepared for failure. She was prepared for the worst case scenario.

She was not prepared to see the great walls of Suna just beyond the next tall sand dune she climbed over, only five minutes later.

"I made it out...? Yes, I made it out! YES!" She cheered at the top of her lungs, running straight for the village entrance. "Shodai's balls! I'm so glad it's over!"

The village gate guards were confused by Sakura's tears of relief, but she ignored their whispers and marched straight into Suna after getting her passport checked. Never again!

And it was just her luck that she was still twenty minutes early for her meeting with her contact! True, Sakura wouldn't be able to do some sightseeing like she'd originally planned, but it was the perfect chance to relax at one of Suna's famous outdoor restaurants for a quick bite. Now that she'd safely made it out of the desert, the tension in her body had eased away, and her hunger had become apparent.

It was only when she'd drank two cups of water and eaten half of the food on her plate when she'd noticed the two old women staring straight at her and whispering to each other. They were both employees of the restaurant.

Sakura shifted self-consciously in her seat. "Um. Can I help you?"

The two old ladies exchanged another uneasy glance before one of them asked, "Did you cross the desert to reach Suna?"

"Yes, I have." Normally Sakura would have taken a boat - it certainly wouldn't have been as hot a journey - but she had been coming from Iron Country, not Fire Country. Crossing the desert was just easier than crossing the ocean, and made more sense at the time.

"You didn't see a young man in the desert, did you?" The old lady pressed.

"As a matter of fact, I did."

Sakura thought back to Gaara, his sudden, seemingly harmless request to accompany her to Sunagakure, and his parting words.

 _Have a good time._

"...I think he played a mean trick on me," Sakura growled, brow furrowed. Now that she wasn't suffering from dehydration, and panicking over her situation, it became clear that she was only able to get to Suna because Gaara had left her side in the end. "Who _was_ that man?"

"He was captured by a monster. You're lucky that you've escaped unscathed," the old woman whispered. Her eyes were alight with fear.

"A monster?" Sakura echoed dubiously.

"Yes! A monster! The sand spirit can shapeshift into-"

"Stop it!" Interrupted the second old woman harshly. "If you keep talking like that, you'll sully the name of our village!"

The first old woman looked torn between continuing her story and keeping her mouth shut. Eventually, she mumbled an apology to Sakura for bothering her meal and both women escaped into the back of the restaurant.

Sakura ate the rest of her meal in silent contemplation.

A monster? Surely she would have sensed anything dark or evil the moment she stepped onto the sands? But there had been nothing of the sort.

Still, she had a hunch.

If her hunch was right, she had no choice but to stay in the area for a little longer than she'd planned.

* * *

"I wonder if Sakura made it to Sunagakure alright? What do you think, Gaara?"

It has only been a day since Gaara crossed paths with the pink-haired traveler. So naturally, she was the main topic of discussion after breakfast. Karura seemed especially enamored by the idea of a wandering female astrologist.

"I wonder what she's looking for all the way out in the desert? To travel alone through foreign lands... she's such a courageous girl. I could never have done the same when I was her age. I hope she comes by again."

Gaara did not glance up from where he was sitting and sharpening his tools. Today he would be foraging for things to eat. It had been his original reason for braving the desert yesterday, but when he spotted an exotic foreigner - Sakura - lounging at one of his usual gathering spots, he'd ended up completely distracted. He'd wanted to know what happened if he tried to leave the desert while accompanied by someone he did not know.

The end result of the impromptu experiment was unsurprising. Gaara was still unable to leave of his own free will, and Sakura had been caught in the desert's snare as well simply because she had been with him. Gaara sincerely hoped that Sakura had managed to get to Suna after he left her to her own devices. Otherwise...

"If Sakura did not make it to the village even after I left her, I will bring her here," Gaara said simply. Their home - consisting entirely out of the same type of clay as the buildings of Suna, a kind of clay that absorbed heat in the day and radiated it at night - wasn't grand, but it offered ample protection from the elements. It was the least he could do.

Karura clapped her hands together. Her eyes were twinkling. "And thus, I would be able to die peacefully knowing that my son wouldn't be all alone..."

Gaara did not dignify his mother's scheming with a reply. Karura often spoke of her own death and it always irked him, even if she was only joking. She was still quite young, and had many years ahead of her. So why did Karura sometimes speak as if her end was coming much sooner?

So instead of answering her directly, he finished his preparations and quietly bid Karura goodbye, the same way he always did whenever he left their shared home for extended periods of time.

However, when he stepped out into the daylight, his mind was fraught with worry. He couldn't help but be worried about their future. Could the two of them truly continue living like this? Gaara didn't particularly mind it, but Karura was always a social person. She surely missed living in Sunagakure, didn't she? Because that place was where all of her friends and family lived.

Gaara was only half paying attention to what he was doing. That was why, when Sakura stepped into the oasis clearing, he'd startled.

"Sakura-san, you're here." He acknowledged her with a sharp nod and stood up, brushing the little pebbles away from his clothing. "You... weren't able to reach Suna?"

"I did actually, not long after we parted ways yesterday," Sakura corrected him cheerfully. "But there was something I wanted to see, so I came back. Gaara-san, I've heard a little bit about you and your mother while I was in Suna."

"Is that so?"

"And a little bit about a raccoon dog that has the ability to shape shift."

Gaara remained expressionless at Sakura's declaration. "...And if you saw the raccoon dog, what would you do with it?"

"If it has something to do with the way I make my living, I'd like to hear everything I can from you about it. It's a very rare phenomenon. It could even be the reason why you can't leave the desert."

"What if I told you to mind your own business?"

Sakura was undaunted. "Then I'll just search on my own."

Gaara crossed his arms and scrutinized Sakura much more closely than he had done the first time. Sakura stood tall, calmly returning his gaze.

After a long, long moment-

"This way."

The redhead turned around and - without making sure she was following him - began walking in the south eastern direction.

* * *

 **End of part 1**

* * *

Characters

Sakura: A traveling zodiac. She came all the way to the desert in search of something.

Gaara: A desert dweller. He has a preference for irony and dramatic reveals.

Karura: Gaara's mother. Often talks about dying.


	2. I - The Voice, part 2

_The voice echoes, saying, "You are a part of me"._

* * *

Gaara led Sakura through the desert to a man-made structure. It looked like a ceremonial altar, and it was entirely made of stone. The redhead bade her to step closer, and she noticed traces of a fire around the altar. Finally, Sakura saw the large bronze tea kettle resting on a raised platform in the center. It was quite obvious that the tea kettle was of incredible importance because of its positioning. The tea kettle itself was nearly all black, save for the yellow four-pointed star that decorated its side.

"This is it," Gaara rasped quietly.

Because the pair was standing side by side in front of the tea kettle, Sakura could practically _feel_ the tension Gaara radiated. He wasn't comfortable in this place, and she couldn't blame him. The stylized four-point star on the tea kettle resembled an eye. It didn't help that it was as if the eye was staring right at her.

"This is the sand spirit's body. There are also four other altars similar to this one scattered throughout the desert. They are smaller, and they enshrine tea cups."

"A tea kettle, and tea cups. A complete set." Sakura was only half-joking.

A second perusal of the platform revealed two distinct markings: on the left was the kanji for 'heart', and on the right was the kanji for 'acceptance'. She couldn't figure out what 'heart' and 'acceptance' stood for, other than their literal definitions and the fact that together, they formed the kanji for 'love'. Still, it was worth noting, so she copied the markings down on a blank notebook, right next to her rough sketch of the altar and the tea kettle.

"Gaara-san, I have a pretty good idea what we're dealing with now that you've shown this tea kettle to me," Sakura began. "But it's not nearly enough for me to work with. Could you tell me everything you know about the sand spirit?"

"...This will take a while to tell. Let's sit."

Gaara and Sakura huddled against one of the cracked stone walls, safely tucked in the shade. It was only mid-morning, but the sun was already searing hot.

"Okay, whenever you're ready," Sakura prompted him.

Gaara leaned back and crossed his arms. "The children of Sunagakure grew up hearing this tale..."

* * *

 **The Misadventures of Zodiac and Cub**

 **Episode 1: "The Voice that Calls From the Cage" (part 2)  
**

* * *

There was once a young couple that lived all by themselves in the desert. The man had been a part of the Kazekage's clan, and he'd rejected his arranged marriage in order to live with his lady love. For many years, they couldn't have a child. After living in despair for a very long time, the man gave in and returned to Suna, abandoning his wife and their home.

His wife was an odd woman who could talk to animals and plants. Night after night she wandered the desert, unable to stand living all by herself in their shared home. And then one day, she sent a message to her husband in Suna. She wanted him to come back because she was with child. The man became suspicious. So one night, he snuck out to follow his wife. And when he did, he saw his wife in a trance, wrapped in a cocoon of sand. He became terrified, and ran away. But eventually the village women shamed him into going back home to his wife. There, he saw his wife cradling a tea kettle as if it were a newborn baby.

Sakura had been drinking from her canteen at this point in the story, so she ended up coughing up a storm. "Are you seriously telling me that she gave birth to a tea kettle?!"

"I heard it directly from the source. She was the midwife and a very old woman at the time, so even if you went back to confirm the details I don't believe she's still alive."

"M-maybe the wife was playing a mean trick on her husband for abandoning her?"

Gaara shrugged. "The villagers thought the same thing."

A couple years after the man fled from the desert, never to be heard from again, the Kazekage's children decided to investigate this 'tea kettle baby'. They were expecting to see some kind of monster. Instead, they saw a normal human girl. That girl was Karura. Since Karura's mother had just passed away, the Kazekage's children decided to keep her company and play with her. Almost immediately, they realized that Karura was _different_. Still, they liked Karura and invited her to live in Sunagakure. The eldest one, Rasa, ended up marrying her. For awhile, they lived in Suna in happiness.

When Rasa took over his father's position as Kazekage, the village elders pressured him to sire children in order to continue their dynasty. Karura requested that she give birth to her children in her old home in the desert, and Rasa agreed. The events that followed were kept strictly confidential, but Karura remained in the desert, and the children were sent to Sunagakure to live with Rasa. The villagers grew suspicious, and they suspected that another 'tea kettle baby' had been born from their union, scaring Rasa in the process. Karura was then believed to be a shape-shifting demon, and all of her friends stopped visiting her. Karura's only company were her own three children, who often came to visit her.

Gaara paused in his storytelling, his eyes shifting back and forth. As if reviewing his memories and deciding which ones he could reveal.

"My siblings and I noticed right away that there was something different about Mother. She never left the desert, and she never ate any food. The only thing that would pass through her lips was the water she'd boil with the tea kettle."

"You mean...?"

Sakura pointed at the tea kettle on the raised platform, and Gaara nodded. At last, Sakura had an explanation for the signs of fire in the altar.

"However, on one of our visits, my siblings and I became unable to leave the desert. We kept going in circles, until we got separated from each other and I was the only one left behind. The next day, my siblings returned with our Father and some of his trusted guards in order to retrieve me. But while I was with them, they couldn't leave the desert."

"So you _knew_ what would happen when you asked to accompany me to Sunagakure!" Sakura protested.

"I apologize. I wanted to know what would happen if I was with someone I'd never met before," Gaara explained. "And since then, Father had ordered the villagers to stay away from Karura and I. My siblings also stopped contacting me. ...And that's the whole story. It sounds fantastical, but it is true."

"...Don't worry, Gaara-san. I'm still shocked about the whole 'gave birth to a tea kettle' thing, but I do believe you."

"And so? What do you think?"

Sakura grinned at him. "Thanks to your story, I'm a hundred percent positive that the sand spirit - the shape shifting racoon dog - is none other than the Ichibi, one of the nine Bijuu that I have been searching for."

Existing in a state between life and death are the beings known as Bijuu, or Tailed Beasts. On Earth, they bring nothing but pain and calamity to humans. But in the heavens, they are the stars that represent the boundary between the world of the living and the dead, as a constellation known as Kaguya. For many years, the followers of the Sage of the Six Paths looked upon the stars for guidance, the Kaguya constellation being the center of all their prophecies.

But...

"How can an entire constellation just vanish?" Gaara asked.

They had left the altar only a minute ago; he was now leading her to the oasis where they first met for a quick water break.

"Your guess is just as good as mine," Sakura replied. "I've been searching all over the Elemental Countries for clues to the whereabouts of the Bijuu. Believe me, I wasn't really expecting to find the Ichibi here of all places."

Sakura's predecessors never found the Bijuu. Neither did her peers. Why now? Why did the Ichibi suddenly appear before her?

"Your task seems very difficult. You have been traveling alone this whole time?"

"Uh-huh. It could get pretty lonely sometimes, but the adventures I had more than made up for it!"

Sakura wasn't sure how to phrase her next words to the redhead, but after a moment she decided to be blunt. After all, he had been straightforward with her with the story behind the sand spirit. Except when he tricked her yesterday, he never held anything back with her. So.

"Based on your story, you and your mother aren't completely human, Gaara-san. Such mixes were recorded by the older zodiacs, but... both of you are the first ones I have ever encountered."

When he remained expressionless, staring straight ahead, Sakura gently nudged him.

"Did that... scare you a little?"

Gaara released a pent-up breath. For the very first time since Sakura met him, he smiled. His smile transformed his face, making him seem younger and his eyes brighter, in complete contrast to the usual stoic expression he sported. Sakura couldn't help but gawk in open-mouthed admiration.

"No. I already knew the circumstances behind my mother's birth, and my own birth. Having you confirm it makes no difference. I am still me, and she is still my mother. Perhaps the citizens of Suna may think otherwise, but I'm sure if they got to know her, they would see that there is no reason to fear her."

"You're still determined to find a way to escape the desert?"

"I am worried. Mother has recently informed me that she only had about two more years to live..."

Sakura blinked. "I-I'm sorry to hear that." What else could she say in response to such a grim announcement?

Gaara took one look at Sakura's aghast expression and chuckled. "Forgive me, Sakura-san. I didn't mean to mislead you again."

"W-what?"

"My mother often jokes about her impending demise. She always says that she only has hours, or days left to live, in a rather dramatic manner," Gaara clarified. "But recently her ultimatums have become more and more... realistic. It is apparent to me that she is only pretending to be fine; hence my remark."

"You seem pretty fond of ultimatums, yourself," Sakura mumbled irritably.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

After Sakura finished refilling her canteen at the oasis, the pair got down to business.

Gaara began walking about the desert with a bag of ground black chalk tied to his waist, spilling out bit by bit with every step he took. The chalk was custom made for Sakura's purposes, and she didn't regret using it all on the spot. Meanwhile, Sakura herself waited for five minutes to pass before following him from a good distance away, marking the areas where Gaara's trail took unnatural turns in her notebook. It took nearly ten whole bags of ground chalk, but they finally completed a rough map of the area that Gaara was confined to against his will.

If she connected all of the points, it really did form a circle of sorts. And at the very center of the circle was the altar with the tea kettle...

"Good afternoon, Karura-san!" Sakura called out cheerfully, setting aside her notebook for now.

The older woman was standing at the altar; she currently had the tea kettle in question hanging over a blazing fire. Gaara was nowhere in sight. Sakura would have to catch up to him later. Right now, she needed more information from a new source.

Karura turned around and smiled at Sakura. "Hello, Sakura-san! It's so nice to see you again!" She paused. "Ah, did you make it to Suna safely?"

"Yes ma'am." Sakura quickly explained to the woman how Gaara had revealed to her that he knew what would happen. "By the way, are you boiling water right now?" She gestured towards the tea kettle.

"Oh, yes. I don't want to do this at night because it's much too cold to go out. And Gaara would get mad at me if I went out on my own after dark."

Sakura smiled at this. "Sounds like he really dotes on you."

"He does!" Karura giggled behind her hand. "He's such a kind, sensitive and polite boy. I am proud to be his mother."

"...Karura-san, your son told me about your exile. And about the history behind the tea kettle you're using right now. He wants to figure out a way to escape the desert with you, so you can live amongst your friends and family in Sunagakure again."

"Ah."

Karura's smile became somber.

"So that's why you returned to the desert, then?"

"One of my reasons, yes. ...When you were shunned by the villagers, was that hard on you?"

"I'd say so. It was very hard on Gaara as well - he ended up separated from his father and his siblings, whom he shared very close ties with." Karura turned back to the tea kettle. "I am fine, as long as my son is with me. But Gaara surely must miss them, even if he doesn't say anything..."

Sakura took a step closer. "Karura-san. I really want to find a way to free the both of you from the desert's clutches. Would you mind giving me a little of the water you're boiling?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Sakura-san. My mother warned me not to share this water with anyone because of how precious it is. I'm sorry."

"Huh. Not even to your son?"

"That's right." Karura expertly put out the fire and carefully lifted the tea kettle, pouring out its contents into a medium-sized clay jug. She continued absently, "...I gave him some one time only, many years ago."

From there, the topic changed into more harmless ones, such as their likes and dislikes, and funny anecdotes from Sakura's constant travels. The zodiac stuck around and chatted with Karura until the brown-haired woman picked up the jug and made to leave the altar. Sakura waited until Karura was completely out of sight before taking out her newly filled canteen and pouring some of the water into the tea kettle and reigniting the fire.

"I'm also sorry, Karura-san. Because I can't respect your wishes," she muttered, placing the kettle above the bright orange flames.

There wasn't much water to boil, so it took only about six minutes to acquire what she needed. Sakura took out an empty glass jar, about the size of an ink bottle, and filled it with the newly heated water from the tea kettle. After returning the kettle to its platform and putting out the fire, Sakura left the altar and then broke out into a run, heading straight north. As she suspected, Sakura was unable to leave the desert even without Gaara accompanying her, as long as she had the water boiled in the special tea kettle.

Sakura sighed aloud. "This desert is a real pain in the butt."

* * *

Karura sat alone under a tree. The oasis was calm and still. In her hands was her personal water skin, with her water of life inside.

This wasn't unusual for her. She normally drank the water twice a day, in the early morning and at this hour. But right now, her mind was full with heavy thoughts. Ever since that wandering female astrologist entered their lives, Karura had caught herself ruminating on the past and the future a lot more often. Her husband, Rasa. Her friends in Suna. Her children - Temari the eldest, Kankuro the middle-child. And Gaara, her youngest child and her only companion for the past eight years.

Sometimes, when the sky was overcast with white and the desert heat was tolerable, she would find Gaara standing outside their home. Staring far into the distance...

Once, she'd joined him outside the house to look at the horizon as well. And she asked him:

"Gaara, are you lonely?"

He'd shown her a tender smile. Without hesitation, he'd answered her.

"Not at all. What about you?"

"I'm fine. Because you're here with me, Gaara."

Her own response was given without hesitation as well.

For some reason, the memory of that day was coming back to her as she sat under the shade of the tree, in the calm and still oasis.

Karura slowly lifted her personal water skin. But instead of drinking from it, she rested it against her forehead.

A single tear trailed down her cheek.

As long as she had her son with her, everything would be alright.

"So you know what's caused it?"

Karura jerked in her seat. That voice. Gaara, her son. What was he doing out here? She quickly pushed herself deeper into the shade until she was hidden by the tree trunks and the tall grass. Just beyond the rocks was her son, conversing with someone.

"Yes. The Bijuu have a will of their own, unlike normal stars. The Ichibi is sending out orders to different parts of its body, to carry out its will. The tea kettle is the main body, as you said. And the tea cups are extensions of its body as well, but that's not all. Everything within the circle of ceremonial altars is also considered extensions of its body, as long as they have this with them."

The clink of glass.

"Water?"

"Not just any old water. This is water that has been boiled in the tea kettle. Here let me show you the difference."

Gaara was talking to Sakura. Yes, that made sense. Sakura had told her earlier about how Gaara had revealed everything he knew about the tea kettle's nature to her, and about how she was trying to come up with an escape plan for the mother and son pair. Karura held her breath and tried to stay as still as she could, straining her ears so she wouldn't miss anything.

"So I've poured the tea kettle water into this dish. I've also poured regular water into the second dish. If I set them down on the ground, like so..."

"Those vibrations aren't normal."

"You see? Normal water is just that. But the tea kettle water serves as a medium for which the Ichibi's orders are carried out. All you need is to hold the water, and you'll be forced to bend to the Ichibi's will. Of course, this includes those who drink it, and those they're constantly with. It says 'you are a part of me', and orders you to come back if you go too far."

Karura could barely hold back a choked sob, a certain memory assaulting her.

* * *

 _"What's wrong, Gaara?" Karura was surprised to see her youngest son sitting in the shade of the house, his pale skin flushed red. "I thought you were playing with Temari and Kankuro?"  
_

 _Gaara blinked his wide eyes at her. "I-it's really hot... and I'm thirsty." The boy looked ready to faint from the heat._

 _Karura was about to run back into the house to fetch the bucket she always used to pull water from the well out back, but she suddenly remembered. She had her water skin with her at that very moment. Of course, she also remembered the strict warning she'd received from her dying mother about sharing the water with anyone else. But surely, just a little sip wouldn't hurt? It was just water._

 _Just a little sip so her son could wet his lips-_

* * *

Sakura clucked her tongue. "Your mother mentioned giving you a little bit, when I asked her if I could have a sample of the tea kettle water. I don't think Karura-san knew what would happen when she gave you that water to drink eight years ago."

The pair was once more at the usual oasis; Sakura would be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy how easily they worked together, and she instinctively knew that she would miss their time together once she left the desert. The sun was just beginning to set, and the temperature wasn't as searing as it was hours ago so they'd opted to sit near the edge of the water instead of under the trees. Very soon, the desert would be blanketed in pitch darkness.

Gaara shook his head, dispersing that memory of eight years ago. "Right. But what can we do?"

"Hmm. The first solution that comes to mind is to remove the water from your body, although I can't think of a way that could be possible. I think a more feasible solution is to destroy the tea kettle."

Sakura paused. Gaara however immediately understood her dilemma.

"You don't want to risk killing the sand spirit; you want to return it to the heavens, for your missing constellation."

"Yeah. Though I doubt that I could _kill_ the Ichibi, mind you, but destroying the tea kettle would probably bring about consequences that I can't foresee."

"If that's the case, then-" Gaara stood up, absently wiping away the dirt from his pants. "Then, I can finally give up on this endeavor. Sakura-san, I thank you for your assistance."

"Huh? I didn't really do anything," Sakura floundered awkwardly. "You're still stuck in the desert!"

"That may be true. But if you did not come along, I would have searched endlessly for a way to leave the desert. And now, I can finally put those thoughts to rest and live the rest of my life in peace."

Gaara lips quirked into a smile. He really didn't seem to mind the idea of living out the rest of his life with his mother in the desert. And if he was fine with it, then so was she.

Sakura would have to leave soon, to follow a new lead in her search for the other Bijuu. She couldn't force the Ichibi to return to its rightful place in the skies, but at the very least it wouldn't be hard to keep track of it while she was still alive. All she needed to do was return to periodically to check up on the status of the tea kettle and the mother-son duo living in their little house in the desert.

And thus, the mystery of the shape shifting racoon-dog came to a close.

* * *

The ceremonial altar looked very foreboding beneath the light of the moon. Those who were superstitious couldn't help but notice the way the wind kicked up the sand, completely engulfing the altar in a shimmering haze. The way the yellow four point star that decorated the side of the tea kettle appeared to glow eerily in the shadows, as if alive.

Karura wasn't deterred in the slightest. She only had one goal in mind tonight, and she wouldn't hesitate.

She boldly stepped up to the raised platform. Her hand tenderly stroked the tea kettle. "You made it all better for me, even though I made such a terrible mistake. You were always looking out for me. Protecting me. You even chased away my loneliness for me. And I am forever grateful to you for what you've done."

After another careful rub, Karura leaned down and picked up the iron hammer that she'd brought with her, taken from Gaara's personal toolbox.

"Thank you... and I'm sorry..."

Karura raised the hammer above her head-

" _Mother!_ "

The last thing she heard before bringing the hammer down on the tea kettle was Gaara's strained yell. His panicked voice was immediately drowned out by the earth-shaking, ear-splitting howl of a beast as the tea kettle began to morph and change.

* * *

 **End of part 2  
**

* * *

Characters

Sakura: A traveling zodiac. She came all the way to the desert in search of the nine Bijuu, powerful beings that represent the boundary between life and death when they come together and form the constellation known as 'Kaguya'.

Gaara: A desert dweller. He has a preference for irony and dramatic reveals. His inability to leave the desert of his own free will is directly related to the water his mother had let him drink eight years ago.

Karura: Gaara's mother. Often talks about dying. Unknowingly ended up trapping her son Gaara in the desert due to an act of kindness.


	3. I - The Voice, END

"That's a pretty big storm!" Exclaimed one of the waiting passengers in awe.

Sakura had been at the docks, waiting for her chance to board the ferry along with the small group of travelers when the wind suddenly picked up speed. Not too much, but just enough to catch Sakura's attention.

On instinct, she turned around and spotted the impressive sandstorm in the distance. The gigantic wall of dust and debris had to be at least four hundred meters high; oddly enough, it also appeared entirely stationary. Concentrated.

She immediately thought about Gaara and Karura. Were they going to be alright in that sandstorm?

A couple of hours ago she'd finally given in and accepted Gaara's invitation to dine with them. Sakura saw no harm in eating supper with them, seeing as she was going to leave that night. She thought it would be nice to spend a little more time with them before leaving.

Their house appeared sturdy enough to withstand most things, and Karura had confided in her that the house was actually much stronger than the usual desert homes because the building material was the same one used by the Kazekage's tower in Suna, the most defensible fortress in the village. It had been the work of the first Kazekage, meant to guard against Kumogakure's signature lightning-based ninjutsu during the Second Secret War.

So as long as the mother and the son stayed indoors, Sakura was reasonably sure they would be safe from natural disasters. Plus, they had more experience with the dangers of the desert than Sakura, so they wouldn't be caught unaware.

They would be fine.

* * *

 _In the desert, there is a voice ringing out that no one can get used to._

* * *

A shudder raced through her.

Sakura cradled herself with her own arms, trying to ward off the sudden chill that she could feel in her skin. In her blood.

...What was that sound just now?

Green eyes stared hard at the whirling, angry mass in the desert. It was so big and thick, she couldn't even see the stars that she had always relied on to guide her. Could she have imagined hearing the sound? No matter how hard she focused, the only sounds she could hear now was the frightening high-pitched howl of strong winds.

Her musing was interrupted by a shout from the ship's bow. "All aboard!"

Sakura shot one last glance over her shoulder at the sandstorm before straightening. She gracefully hopping up onto the boat. A deck hand was waiting patiently on the side, arms held out expectantly. Sakura slid her travel pack of her shoulders. "Hey, are sandstorms of this size normal in the desert?" She asked him casually.

"We get at least two of them a year. Three, if we're unlucky," the sailor replied, easily lifting Sakura's pack. "Not powerful enough to overturn houses, but it'd be best to get out while you still can. You're lucky you caught the last ship out, miss."

"I figured that was the case," Sakura grumbled good-naturedly.

As they chatted, the ropes that kept the boat secured were cut. The anchor was raised, and the vessel pushed offshore.

Sakura's new lead was taking her west to the Land of the Moon - the most richest and most beautiful kingdom in the world. Supposedly, there was a fearsome beast that had taken up residence near the Moon Kingdom's white beaches, causing chaos among the fishermen that lived there.

* * *

 _The voice echoes, saying, "You are a part of me"._

* * *

There it was again...!

It was an unmistakable, haunting sound echoing fleetingly towards her from the general direction of the desert... as if carried by the air currents, and permeating her very soul. Now that she had heard it a second time, Sakura was beginning to think that she had heard this peculiar sound somewhere before.

"Miss?" The sailor tried again. Sakura had yet to let go of her travel pack. Her hands were pale and shaking as they gripped the straps.

"...I'm sorry. I need to get off the ship."

"Bwuh?! Are you sure?! This isn't really the best time to go back to the desert, miss!" The travel pack was abruptly ripped from the sailor's grasp. Sakura jumped into the water, landing lightly on the surface with a splash before running over the water towards the shore. "...Miss?! Hold on, it's dangerous!" His warning went completely ignored.

Sakura definitely heard this sound before, but she wasn't entirely sure why she was hearing it _now_ of all times.

But it definitely wasn't a hallucination of any sort. She'd had too many encounters with spirits to brush off unexplained phenomenon like this.

That was why, when she heard the sound of Gaara's voice calling her name once more, she poured even more chakra into her legs and sped up, running straight for the angry whirling mass that had encompassed the desert.

* * *

 **The Misadventures of Zodiac and Cub**

 **Episode 1: "The Voice that Calls From the Cage" (END)**

* * *

Gaara had kept one other detail to himself during his talk with Sakura:

Ever since he had been trapped, he had been unable to sleep.

There was no need to reveal it to her. After their cooperative experiment, Gaara had formed a theory of what truly happened to him eight years ago, on the day Karura shared her "water of life" with him to drink. He did not want any outsiders to involve themselves in the private situation between himself and his mother. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of keeping Sakura out of the loop because he sincerely liked her, so he had felt both relieved and guilty that Sakura herself had decided to simply let things be and continue on her journey.

The first couple of weeks he had gone without sleep, Karura had been worrying over his health nonstop. Gaara really didn't know how to explain to her that he no longer needed sleep without bringing her even more guilt.

So he'd pretended to sleep for her peace of mind.

Tonight was no different; Gaara had been lying on his sleeping mat, eyes closed and breaths even, but he was not asleep. Instead of drifting off, he had come to utilize a form of deep meditation that helped him relax, and after years of practice he could stay completely still for very long periods of time.

His meditative state was disturbed by the sensation of movement to his immediate left. He continued to breathe deeply and evenly, keeping his eyes closed, his four other senses highly alert. There was the telltale rustle of clothing.

And then Karura carefully reached out, gently petting his red hair before finally leaving their shared bedroom on silent feet.

Gaara knew from the sound of wood lightly squeaking from beyond the walls to the north of his head that she was accessing his personal toolbox.

What was she doing? His mind recalled the events of a couple hours prior.

Karura had been beside herself with joy when Gaara had brought Sakura home for dinner, simultaneously embarrassing the pair for different reasons. Other than that, his mother at the time seemed like her usual happy and doting self. For the first time, Gaara had someone other than himself eat his cooking, which only made the older woman even more excited. Karura had also been terribly enraptured by the stories of faraway lands that Sakura had been to.

But his mother had never inquired after their investigation into the tea kettle. Gaara knew that Karura was aware of their efforts to break free from the desert's trap, and he was completely prepared to tell her that he had already given up on leaving had she asked. That he was prepared to live out the rest of his life with her among the dunes, and he had no regrets.

If Karura wasn't showing curiosity in their investigation, it meant that she already knew what they had found, and was keeping quiet about it...

Gaara waited for several more heartbeats before silently trailing after his mother outside of their home. Instead of following her immediately, he decided it would be best to wait for her to gain some distance so he wouldn't be caught sneaking after her.

When he looked up and saw the stars, he was immediately reminded of the zodiac, Sakura. He absently wondered if she was also looking up at the night sky at this very moment, wherever she was. The image of her face, flushed with excitement as she babbled on about the heavenly bodies that she adored so much, brought a tiny smile to his lips.

Two days ago, he never would have believed that meeting the exotic foreigner would radically change his life forever. When he found her at his usual gathering spot yesterday, he never would have guessed how quickly everything would escalate...

His thoughts about Sakura inevitably turned to thoughts about the Kaguya constellation she'd told him about. The Ichibi and the nine Bijuu. The havoc they supposedly caused mankind by simply existing on the mortal plane. Despite her clear cut explanations, the redhead still had a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept.

But he couldn't deny that whatever power that had so thoroughly entrapped him in the desert was not of this world...

Gaara clenched his fists and determinedly began to walk in the direction he saw his mother go off in. He would ruminate on those topics later. First, he needed to make sure his mother was safe and bring her back home.

To his growing apprehension, Karura was indeed heading straight for the tea kettle's ceremonial altar. It looked very foreboding beneath the light of the moon. Those who were superstitious couldn't help but notice the way the wind kicked up the sand, completely engulfing the altar in a shimmering haze. The way the yellow four point star that decorated the side of the tea kettle appeared to glow eerily in the shadows, as if alive.

But Karura clearly wasn't deterred in the slightest. Gaara watched his mother boldly step up to the altar from a safe distance. He was close enough to see everything she was doing.

He watched her place a hand on the tea kettle, stroking it as if it were a beloved pet.

And then Karura leaned down and picked up the iron hammer that she'd brought along with her, taken from Gaara's personal toolbox.

Gaara stepped closer, his jaw hanging open. Was Karura truly going to destroy the tea kettle? But why?

* * *

 _"-destroying the tea kettle would probably bring about consequences that I can't foresee."_

* * *

Sakura was more experienced than Gaara on Bijuu and the Ichibi, and even _she_ didn't want to destroy the thing when the solution was brought up and discussed.

Gaara was suddenly struck with a painful premonition.

In that moment, he _knew_. He knew what would happen if Karura succeeded in her task.

As if in a trance, Karura raised the hammer high above her head, the smooth metal reflecting the moonlight. Gaara opened his mouth and ran towards her, intent on stopping her before it was too late. The hammer fell down-

"Mother, don't do it!"

-and missed the tea kettle completely, crashing onto the rocky floor instead.

With an angry shout, Karura raised the hammer and swung it downwards once more.

...And missed again.

She raised the hammer.

She missed.

Again and again she tried to destroy the tea kettle, with all of her strength behind each wild swing. But no matter what she did, Karura kept missing the tea kettle by inches. As if something was redirecting the force of the blow against her will. And with every attempt, her arms grew fatigued until she could no longer keep up her assault, her shoulders heaving from the wasted efforts.

Gaara took one step. Another step. And another. He didn't stop until he was close enough to see the sweat and tears trickling down Karura's face.

"...Mother. Let's go home."

A choked sob escaped her lips.

Gaara paused, but he did not get a response. He took another step towards her again, his hand already reaching out to touch her trembling shoulder. "You can't stay out in the cold like this-"

"Why?!" Karura cried. Her voice was so thick with despair, it pierced his heart and made him hesitate. " _Why can't I do a single thing right_?!"

The hammer crashed heavily to the stone floor. Karura slumped down to her knees not long after.

"All this time... after all this time, why?! Why do I always...?! Why?! _Why_?!"

She buried her face in her hands and let out an anguished scream.

"Mother, you shouldn't be able to harm the shape-shifting raccoon dog," Gaara murmured. A bridge connected in his mind. "...You overheard my conversation with Sakura earlier, didn't you? You can't destroy it because you are a part of its body. In the same way your arms and legs can't refuse an order from your brain. And neither can I."

"I stole away your chance to return to Suna with your siblings! _It's all my fault!_ " Karura wept bitterly.

"Mother..."

Gaara knelt down beside her, and drew Karura's shaking body into a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Gaara...! I'm so sorry! If only I wasn't born this way! If only you were born to some different woman! If only-... if only I'd died back then, then you wouldn't have ended up this way!"

She clutched at him like a child, a complete reversal of their roles. Her cries sounded as if they reverberated from the deepest part of her. For several minutes, Gaara simply held his mother tightly in his arms, wrapping himself around her protectively. It was all he could do.

Until at long last, he responded to her. His voice was as hard and unyielding as steel, but the passion behind his words was unmistakable.

"Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I wouldn't have ended up this way if the situation was different. But I prefer not waste time thinking about what could have been. I don't care who your parents are, or what you did in the past. You are my mother, and I enjoyed every moment I spent living with you out in the desert."

"G-Gaara..."

After several more minutes, Karura's tears began to die down, and she more or less regained control over herself.

"Gaara," she sniffled. "Thank you... thank you, thank you..."

"Let's go home, mother. The night is growing colder."

Despite what he said, they didn't rise to their feet until several minutes later. Karura picked up the hammer that she'd brought, and Gaara had taken three steps forward before noticing that Karura wasn't following him back.

That was his mistake.

"Thank you... and I'm sorry..."

When he turned around, Karura stood facing the tea kettle once more, hammer raised high above. The premonition struck him even more painfully than before.

" _Mother!_ "

In the next instant, both mother and son were swallowed up by a malicious, primordial wave. Gaara fought hard against the currents of sand, wind and stone, stretching his arms out towards Karura, but he his efforts were in vain.

The last thing Gaara heard before he drowned was the howl of a great beast. The last thing he saw was a gigantic, shadowed claw reaching for him.

And then everything went dark.

.

.

.

.

Gaara shivered violently.

It was as if a cold wind was passing through his body.

Above him, the sky was overcast in white, the clouds moving slowly away in an arc. The sand was blinding yellow, firm and packed beneath his bare feet. On the horizon was a cluster of mountains, shimmering in the desert heat. It was a view he was intimately familiar with after spending time outside the house, in the mornings that were especially cool.

Some mornings, Karura would join him and they'd talk about whatever came to mind. But when Gaara was alone, he would stand completely still and close his eyes. It was moments like these when he felt connected to every single grain in existence.

Moments like right now.

Gaara was about to close his eyes, when suddenly a vision descended upon him.

.

.

.

.

 _It was all her fault._

 _Gaara was dying, and it was all her fault._

 _Karura clutched his motionless body closer. Right before her very eyes, her son's life was being eaten away by an endless, insatiable black Hunger. The youngest and the brightest, slowly being consumed by an insurmountable force that she could barely understand. And once it was done with that, Gaara's empty body was the next to be devoured, inside out..._

 _It was all her fault._

 _" A sip! It was just a little sip of water!" Karura sobbed, clutching at Gaara's small, failing body._

 _This was her punishment for disobeying her dying mother's final warning to her. This was her karma for not protecting what was sacred._

 _Meanwhile,_ _the young Gaara could hear his mother crying his name in agony, but he was too numb to move._

 _His eyelids were too heavy to open._

 _And bit by bit, the sound of his mother's wails and sobs faded away as Gaara slipped into unconsciousness._

 _His final dream consisted of memories of growing up in Suna,_

 _of his father and siblings, before everything was blotted out by a dark,_

 _ **aching emptiness**._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

"Is that... me...?" Gaara muttered absently, staring at the redheaded child swaddled in a blanket, eyes tightly closed. "And that's mother..."

Playing out in front of him was a familiar scene, like a video reel.

The cries of Karura's lamentation cut through the stillness like pure plasma, tearing into his heart.

It might have been a scene from a past that Gaara couldn't recall before. It's as if it was imprinted upon his body, stored away as an unknown trauma suppressed from his memories. It could have been any number of things, but Gaara couldn't explain why he was seeing this now.

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Karura_ _gently laid Gaara down on the stone floor of the altar, still sobbing._

 _"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..."_

 _She started a fire, and set the tea kettle above the dancing flames._

 _Her movements were stilted, entirely on automatic. The only difference was, the tea kettle itself was devoid of any water._

 _Karura could not save Gaara's life._

 _But she could at least prevent the rest of him from being senselessly eaten away by the insatiable black Hunger._

 _According to her late mother, when the tea kettle was warmed by fire without anything inside it,  
a certain "something else" would come out of its spout. It was horrible, it was unspeakably evil...  
but it was the only answer Karura could think of in the face of this insanity.  
_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

* * *

"Just a little more ways to go. I can do this!" Sakura repeated those words to herself like a mantra. Her grip on her metal shakujo tightened. Her pink hair was flying crazily about. "I can do this!"

She could barely hear her own voice over the roaring winds, but she didn't dare speak any louder lest her special bubble-like barrier was destroyed. The technique she was using required her to remain fiercely concentrated on the emotions that the Bijuu was exhibiting, sympathizing with those emotions while internalizing them as her own in order to power the barrier. She couldn't afford to be distracted!

A human's perception of the physical world was limited to his five senses, and thus could only interact with his environment using those five senses. But zodiacs, the followers of the Sage of the Six Paths, trained themselves tirelessly in order to overcome this human weakness. For once those things restricting his five senses vanished, he could transcend to a new plane of existence. A new level of understanding.

That level was ninshu.

Right now Sakura was using ninshu to safely walk through the storm and find out where this feeling of **_aching emptiness_** was coming from, while moving in that direction.

Sakura came to a sudden halt just as a humongous clawed hand reached out from the eye of the sand storm - the place she was slowly and carefully walking towards - and began heading right for her at an incredible speed.

"Don't be afraid." Saying it out loud had always helped her focus. Sakura wasn't a master at ninshu yet, so she did everything she could to prop herself up when her raw skills came up short.

The giant clawed hand rushed towards her, clearly attempting to grab her off the ground.

"Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be-"

Like a mirage of the desert, the deadly clawed hand harmlessly passed right through her barrier, and Sakura, with a loud _woosh_.

Sakura throttled the urge to whoop with relief. She wasn't out of danger just yet!

After several more agonizing minutes, Sakura finally reached the eye of the sand storm, which was the origin of the **_aching emptiness_** that had completely engulfed the desert. Unable to help herself, Sakura gasped aloud, her emerald eyes widened in shock. Towering high above her was a gargantuan raccoon dog that was several stories tall. It had unsettling yellow eyes, a single dangerous jagged tail, and Curse Marks all over its skin. There was no doubt about it; this was the Ichibi, the Star of Bottomless Gluttony!

Although... there was something off about the Ichibi. In her studies, the Bijuu each had a unique personality. Kyuubi was prideful. Gyuuki was brotherly. Niibi was competitive. This 'Ichibi' she was seeing now was just _blank_ , as if robbed of its original personality. Why?

Sakura _screamed_ in terror as the Ichibi abruptly turned in her direction and fired a powerful ball of energy from its open mouth. Luckily, she managed to keep ahold of her concentration by the barest of threads, and the attack zoomed right through her without any damage whatsoever.

Her blood ran cold. In which direction was the village of Suna located? She couldn't let the Ichibi attack her any more with those energy blasts! She needed to nip this in the bud before any more damage was caused!

So Sakura dashed closer to the Ichibi and began to circle it, inviting it to swipe at her with its claws and tail, all while keeping an eye out for Gaara. His voice was the reason why she was here in the first place, and she needed to find him as soon as possible.

"GAH!"

She cried out as a dark shadow bumped right into her. She wasn't hurt, but she'd momentarily lost control over her barrier. This was the closest to death that she had ever come to.

Heart pumping, she glanced up and saw that the Curse Marks that were once on the Ichibi's body were flowing off of it like water... and were heading right towards her. Sakura poured chakra into her legs and picked up the pace, jumping and dodging while trying to keep her ninshu barrier in place. Unfortunately, whenever a Curse Mark slammed into her barrier, it dropped and Sakura had to erect another one immediately after. At this rate, she'd be swallowed by the _**aching emptiness**_ and become lost forever...!

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large swarm of Curse Energy clustered around a human figure lying on the ground, about several hundred feet away. Sakura felt her heart stop as two possibilities entered her mind:

Karura. Gaara.

Sakura moved as close as she dared until she was within range. She held her shakujo aloft and closed her eyes, putting out as much spiritual energy as she physically could.

It was no good. As if waiting for this very moment, the Ichibi quickly opened its mouth and fired another energy ball straight at her. Sakura adjusted her spiritual energy output at the last possible second, and the attack once again missed her completely, passing through her like air.

Sakura had no choice. She had to meet those hungry black shadows head on if she wanted to save whoever it was that the Curse Marks were eating away at!

Knowing that a single mistake would cost Sakura her very existence, she once again raised her shakujo and charged, crossing the desert sands faster than she had ever done in her whole life, without a shred of hesitance.

One hundred feet.

Seventy feet.

Forty.

Twenty.

Ten.

* * *

.

.

.

.

 _A human's perception of the physical world was limited to his five senses, and thus he could only interact  
with his environment using those five senses. And so, spirits and the like were beyond the average mortal's reach.  
But the kind of training zodiacs undergo isn't the only way to transcend into a new level of existence.  
As long as those things restricting his five senses were removed completely, his five senses would naturally open up._

 _What word in the human language could accurately describe which restrains a mortal's senses?_

 _...A 'soul'._

 _It was something close to that word._

 _If a human's 'soul' was removed from his body, then his body naturally would fall into a state that could allow him to move freely between  
two different planes. But that begs the question: would he still be able to live without a soul?_

 _The answer is 'yes'._

 _When the soul is removed from the body, as long as something else properly takes its place, it is possible._

 _This was the conclusion Karura had reached._

 _And that was why she stood off to the side and quietly watched the black haze, resonating with **hungerhungerhunger** ,  
slowly rise out of the tea kettle's spout like smoke._

 _Quietly watched it float towards Gaara, entering his lifeless body through his ears and nostrils._

 _After all... even the shape shifting raccoon dog, with its Hunger, wouldn't eat a part of its own body._

.

.

.

.

 _Gaara wondered what that smell was. It was kind of sweet... but also kind of bitter._

 _He opened his eyes._

 _Karura was hovering over him, her face streaked with tears._

 _"It worked...! Gaara, you're alive!"_

 _His mother's embrace was both fierce and tender._

.

.

.

.

The memories flicked across his vision faster and faster, and somehow Gaara could still understand what he was seeing.

But then the angle of his sight completely changed, and suddenly he was standing on lush grass, surrounded by a dense forest.

He didn't recognize where he was at all.

Before he could regain his bearings however, he was assaulted by new visions. Most likely memories, like before.

Specifically, the image of a young female with exotic pink hair and emerald eyes. She was sitting in the tall grass at the very edge of the forest clearing, picking flowers. It wasn't difficult to guess who this person was, despite the unusually morose expression on her normally cheerful face.

"...Is that Sakura?" Gaara wondered. "But she's a child. This is from way before I first met her. Why would I see her memories?"

The young Sakura was whispering something. Gaara strained himself to hear.

.

.

.

.

 _"...My existence meant that little to him. It didn't matter what I said or did._

 _He wouldn't allow it to affect him at all. It was like I could have a 'real form' or not, for all the good it did it."_

.

.

.

.

A strange sensation tickled Gaara's stomach, distracting him from watching the memory.

Suddenly-

* * *

Gaara's eyes snapped open. Bending over him was Sakura herself, glowing with a mysterious energy. Her hair was flying all over the place.

"You're awake! Thank goodness!" Sakura exclaimed over the roar of the sand storm.

The redhead realized with a start that they were holding hands, and that they were both encased in some kind of bubble. "Sakura? What's-"

Gaara flicked his gaze behind Sakura. He saw a giant, scary-looking raccoon dog - most likely the Ichibi - staring down at the two of them menacingly with bright yellow eyes. He belatedly remembered that those yellow eyes were exactly the same as that four-pointed star on the side of the tea kettle.

The tea kettle! Karura!

"Sakura, is my mother alright?!"

"No time to explain!" Sakura blurted. "Just follow everything I tell you to do, and we'll be okay! Got it?!"

Gaara nodded quickly and scrambled to his feet, still holding onto Sakura's hand for balance. Sakura bent down and snatched up a brass shakujo from the ground.

The Ichibi reared its head back and unleashed a guttural growl. As if in response, the wind picked up even more strength. So much that the pair would have been knocked right off of their feet... but for some reason, they didn't. Gaara stared at the clear bubble they were standing in. Was it because of that, perhaps?

"Do you know how to chakra dash?!" She shouted at him.

Gaara jerked another nod.

"Okay, this is what we're going to do! We're-... _oh crap_ -!"

Sakura cut herself off as the Ichibi unleashed a powerful blast of black energy from its mouth towards them. As one, Gaara and Sakura pushed off from the ground and allowed the shockwaves from the attack to propel them farther away.

"First things first!" She yelled. "Don't let that black energy touch you, or you'll end up unconscious and I'll have to waste time trying to free you again!" Sakura swore, causing Gaara to blink at her in surprise. He never thought she could say stuff like that. "Dammit! It just keeps pulling new attacks out of its ass!"

"What's your plan?!" Gaara asked her before she went off a new tangent.

"We're gonna get behind that thing, jump on its back, run up its body and seal its mouth shut!"

"How?!"

They dodged another ball of black energy, their hands still locked together. Gaara thought that the bubble barrier was kind of odd, being able to protect them from the storm but not from the energy attacks.

"Don't sweat the details, I'll handle the sealing part! Your role is to absorb that into yourself with this!"

Sakura held up a blank tag for sealing.

Gaara's eyes widened, and then narrowed suspiciously.

"And why would I do that?"

Sakura took a deep breath. And then, with the grim determination of someone who was about to do something highly unpleasant, she said:

"Because as the Ichibi, you should be able to reabsorb the power that's rightfully yours."

"I-... _what_?" Gaara had a hard time parsing what Sakura just told him. "I don't understand!"

"Gaara." Sakura's eyes and tone softened. "...You are the Ichibi."

" _I don't believe you_." Gaara nearly succeeded in wrenching his hand away from Sakura's hold, but she stubbornly held on to him.

"You know I'm telling the truth, Gaara!" Sakura insisted, meeting his icy gaze head on. "When I freed you from your 'fake sleep', I was able to see everything that you saw."

"No."

"And I was totally wrong. The true reason why you can't leave the desert is because you've willingly anchored yourself here! To stay with your lonely mother, who couldn't return to Suna! The water you drank was only the catalyst!"

" _No._ "

"You are connected to every grain of sand in existence! And everything within this desert is a part of you! So of course you'd be able to see Karura's memories of what really happened! And I know that you know those visions were real memories!"

"I'm not the Ichibi!" Gaara shouted, real fear creeping into his voice. "I'm a human being! I eat, sleep, and breathe like a human being!"

"You're lying," Sakura said flatly. "I told you, I was able to see everything. I know that you haven't slept for eight years."

Gaara tried to rip his hand away from hers again, but still she held on tight. He couldn't pull away from her.

Another dark energy blast, this one much bigger than the first two, was fired right at them. They couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and both Sakura and Gaara were sent sprawling onto the ground. The bubble that protected them from the storm flickered, but miraculously held on.

But Gaara barely registered what had just happened. The only thing he could think was-

 _He was a monster._

-And the worst part was, he knew this to be true.

Maybe at one point, he was a human. But not anymore. Now he was some kind of freak of nature that... what did Sakura say last time? A monster that caused nothing but suffering for humans.

"Gaara..."

He was yanked back to reality by the sound of Sakura's anguished cry. Turning his head to his right, he saw that their hands were still connected.

"That's not true, Gaara," Sakura blubbered. The sight of her pretty green eyes, bright with fresh tears, stunned Gaara so much that he couldn't move. "You're not a monster, so stop thinking like that! If it was something I said, then... I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel that way! I'm just so desperate to stop that thing that's rampaging through the desert!"

"Sakura..."

Gaara didn't even question how she was able to understand his thoughts. He was too busy being distracted by the sensation of warmth gently wrapping around him like a tender embrace. It was as if her _feelings_ were seeping into him through their connected hands. He could _feel_ her sincerity.

He'd thought that he couldn't pull his hand away from hers because of his current weak state... but maybe it was because he didn't _want_ to pull his hand away. So he tightened his grip instead.

"You're right. This isn't the time for this."

"H-huh?"

"Sakura, give me that blank seal tag. I'll do it. There's no time for words, only actions. I need to save my mother."

"...Right."

They both rose to their feet, still wobbly from the destructive attack that they'd barely managed to survive.

"Are you familiar with fuuinjutsu?"

"Yes. How do I absorb the... the fake raccoon-dog's energy?"

"He's not a 'fake' per se, but we'll get to that later. In theory, as the real Ichibi you should be able to command it to bend to your will since its just chakra, but you don't have the power to do that right now. I'm hoping that by using fuuinjutsu, we could make it easier on you."

Gaara thought it over. "Why do you need to seal the raccoon dog's mouth?"

"Because there is a chance it could still spit energy attacks at you while you're trying to absorb it. I don't want to take any chances."

After hashing out the rest of the details, Sakura and Gaara turned to face the phantom Ichibi.

"Ready, Gaara?"

"I am ready. My mother's life is still in danger; the longer we wait, the worse off she will be."

It was mercifully quick. The plan went off without any further complications.

As if beckoned by a will greater than Sakura could comprehend, Gaara managed to stop the 'blank' Ichibi's rampage, absorbing the chakra construct into his own body. When the storm died down at last, Sakura found both mother and son hugging each other tightly, and a brand new tattoo etched onto Gaara's pale face, on his left temple.

It was the kanji for 'love'.

* * *

For a while after Karura destroyed the tea kettle, mother and son continued to live alone in the desert in happiness. Sakura didn't need to stick around to explain anything, because the moment Gaara regained his wits, he was markedly _different_.

Still the same man who was polite and distantly kind, and yet different in how vast his scope of _understanding_ was.

In a way, he was like Sakura now.

He'd transcended into a new plane of existence.

The water that Karura had been drinking was a poison for anyone else who drank it. Immediately upon consumption, the water - which was an extension of the Ichibi's Gluttony acted on its orders to feed. Gaara had lost something that day, and gained something else in its place. That was all there was to it. Questioning whether the Gaara before and the Gaara who drank the water was the same person was pointless.

Gaara was himself. Gaara was the Ichibi.

Also, he was able to leave the desert whenever he wanted to now that he was whole and firmly in control of his abilities. Karura had apologized to Gaara one more time for 'killing' him eight years ago, and broke down into tears when Gaara took her into his arms and sobbed into her shoulder. Sakura watched them from the sidelines with a smile.

In the end, Sakura decided to stick to her original plan. She would just come back and visit the pair once in a while and see how they were doing while she had been traveling around the world for the Bijuu.

After all, there was no point in trying to force Gaara to return to the heavens when he still had the rest of his mortal life to live.

* * *

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _In that desert, the incredible sandstorm that year was the topic of conversation for long afterward.  
_

 _At the same time, an odd legend was born._

 _That particular sandstorm had been the work of the desert spirits, and brought a dead man back to life._

 _This man was immortal, and would guide lost travelers in the desert to safety.  
_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Even now, the people of the village can hear that husky voice with an odd beauty to it._

 _Whispering tenderly across the dunes._

 _._

 _._

 _._

* * *

 **End of Episode 1  
**

* * *

Characters

Sakura: A traveling zodiac. She came all the way to the desert in search of the nine Bijuu, powerful beings that represent the boundary between life and death when they come together and form the constellation known as 'Kaguya'. After parting ways with Gaara and Karura once more, Sakura boarded another boat to Moon Kingdom. This time, there was no need to jump off.

Gaara: His true identity is the Ichibi (One-Tail), the Star of Bottomless Gluttony. He has a preference for irony and dramatic reveals. He now has the ability to sleep, but he's so used to meditating that he has a hard time drifting off. His new hobby is sitting at the kitchen table, staring at his hand. He won't explain why, no matter how many times Karura asks him.

Karura: Gaara's mother. What will happen to her now that the tea kettle she uses to boil her "water of life" has been destroyed?


	4. I - ?

Eight months later.

The sun had already set hours ago. Gaara was at his usual oasis, sitting on a large flat stone and gazing blankly into the horizon.

Now that he lived alone, he was spending an increased amount of time wandering the desert as opposed to staying inside his house. Gaara just couldn't stand how quiet it was sometimes, even when he kept himself busy. He found it hard to do the chores he normally did without the pleasant sound of Karura's humming in the background, or her comforting presence hovering nearby. Not even his newly regained ability to sleep could help him, as Gaara could only lie flat on his back and struggle not to think too hard about how empty the bedroom was.

As the days passed, his emotions grew colder and more removed from himself.

In exchange for the Truth of his identity, maybe he'd lost something essential as a human being...

Every single day, after another fruitless trek across the desert, Gaara returned home to cook dinner for himself. After an ice cold bath, he'd silently sweep out the stray bits of sand that had blown in through the open windows before heading out back to the well. Not that he needed to draw as much water as before now that Karura wasn't around; it was the place he usually practiced using his mysterious supernatural powers. And once he'd trained for at least two hours, Gaara left home to stay at his special oasis.

Tonight was no different... or so he thought.

Gaara squinted.

There, in the distance, he could clearly see a familiar figure with pink hair dashing across the moonlit sands towards him.

"Ah, it's you," he greeted her as she skidded to a halt.

Sakura wasted no time getting to the point. "Gaara, what's going on? There isn't a single tea cup left in the desert, and the altars are in shambles!" She blared.

The redhead did not respond right away. Instead, he beckoned Sakura closer. Sakura warily complied with his silent request and dropped down next to Gaara, shifting her position slightly so she was facing him. She peered at him with grim and expecting eyes, idly fiddling with her canteen.

"Ever since you left, the tea cups had been slowly breaking down," he whispered. "One after the next, as if whatever was holding them together had been sapped away."

Emerald eyes widened. The water inside the canteen nearly spilled out onto her lap.

"My mother's only food was the water she boiled with the tea kettle. For awhile, the tea cups helped but when the last one broke... there was nothing I could do to help her. She suffered terribly."

"Gaara, I'm sor-"

"I buried her right over there."

Gaara just kept talking, as if he was unable to help himself. He pointed at a certain spot on the other side of the pool of water, right underneath a palm tree. Perhaps he'd needed to get it all off his chest. Perhaps he'd kept it all bottled up inside for too long. Maybe that was why he didn't even stop to breathe during his tirade.

"She died withered and frail. And all I could do was watch the light slip away from her eyes." The words spilled out faster and faster of their own accord, and his body felt even more _numb_ than ever before. "It was because mother did what she did that all this happened. She destroyed the one thing that gave her life. But I _made_ her do it. I _made_ her destroy the tea kettle. I kept going on and on about how worried I was about her, how much she missed the village. But the truth is, _I_ was the one who couldn't break my ties with Suna-"

The canteen dropped to the ground, forgotten.

Sakura reached out and tightly embraced Gaara without a second thought.

At first, Gaara was frozen. He hadn't had human contact in over half a year, although somehow it had felt even longer than that. He didn't know how to respond to Sakura's sudden display of physical affection, and his arms twitched uselessly at his sides. But then he took in a much needed breath, and caught an unusual sweet smell. It was so subtle, so _different_ than what Gaara was used to every day, that he couldn't help but bury his nose into her shoulder a bit more. That was also the exact moment Gaara realized his vision was slowly but surely getting blurry.

"...Strange," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"What's strange?"

Sakura sounded suspiciously hoarse.

"These past few months, my emotions had been growing more distant. Fear, excitement, joy, anger... I couldn't feel them anymore. But now, I-"

The words died before they left his lips; Gaara himself couldn't adequately describe the aching _**emptiness**_ he was feeling at that moment.

His arms finally began to move, inching themselves around Sakura's smaller frame of their own will. He ignored the warm wetness spilling out of his eyes, and the little pinpricks of pain stabbing into his heart. Sakura didn't even complain when his arms tightened around her even more.

It was a very, very long time before they moved from that spot.

.

.

.

"Hey, Gaara? If you don't want to stay here, and you don't know where to go from here... do you wanna come with me?"

Gaara's eyes flickered towards hers.

Sakura floundered. It was only his hand wrapped around hers that prevented her from moving away.

She blushed slightly. "I just thought that if you travel around with me, you might find someplace new. Someplace nice. And I don't mind the company! It doesn't have to be forever. And I'll help you look for a new home, too! So what do you say?"

.

.

.

Located far to the east was a small country of faith and prayer. The Land of Rain.

Zodiac and shinobi alike were guided each day by the Sage of the Six Paths' divine teachings, and the Sage granted all of his followers his protection in return. Despite the relentless pouring rain, it was a place of peace and unity. ...Until now.

"A thousand pardons for the intrusion, Pein-sama! The agents sent to Wind Country have returned!"

Konan didn't even flinch or open her eyes when the Chamber doors slammed open and the runner shouted at the top of his lungs. She serenely stepped right in the runner's path. "...Cast away your ego. It won't do to disturb the temple and Pein-sama's worship ceremony," Konan admonished with a soft voice, gesturing to the closed bamboo curtains behind her. "Next time, take care to better observe your surroundings."

"I-I'm sorry. Konan-sama."

"Now, relay the report."

"Yes, ma'am. The agents sent to Wind Country were unable to find the whereabouts of the Ichibi. It seems as though the Ichibi vanished entirely from the desert it was said to inhabit."

Konan's calm expression didn't change. "I see. And what of the agents?"

"They got too close to Sunagakure and were forced to take a fighting retreat, Konan-sama. Both are currently undergoing emergency treatment at the Chamber of Silence, and the doctors attending them predicted it will take some time for them to recover before returning to active duty."

"...Suna shinobi attacked our agents?"

The runner shook his head. "No, Konan-sama. The enemies were said to sport blank white masks."

Konan opened her eyes. "So we were beset by a rival organization, then," she murmured. "And what a blasphemous organization it is."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **A/N:**

Hey, guys. This chapter isn't really part of Episode 1, it's just something extra that bridges Episode 1 and 2 together (hence the lack of character profiles). There will be more of these in the future, too.

And! For those who want a little more information on Episode 1-

Sakura's hypothesis about the tea kettle water wasn't completely wrong. She was correct in that the Ichibi used the water to send out orders to different parts of its "body", but was incorrect at the point where she decided that it was the water that was controlling Gaara and keeping him from escaping the desert, because she had no idea that Gaara had actually died eight years ago.

Gaara's still Gaara, even with a new "soul" inhabiting his body. Gaara is also the Ichibi, including all the powers and the weaknesses. IC, it's considered a "contradiction" because it simply cannot be reasoned out with mortal understanding. OOC, consider "Ichibi" a title of sorts that can be inherited/passed on to a successor, like the title of "Kage", which comes with the usual benefits and setbacks.

Sakura and Gaara's moment of understanding in chapter 3 could be interpreted as a side effect of holding hands while Sakura was using Ninshu, or as a genuine act of empathy on Sakura's part. Or a little of both.

When Gaara saw Sakura's childhood memory, that was a side effect of her trying to wake him up from his comatose state with Ninshu, induced by the Phantom Ichibi.

And that's it for now. I hope to see you guys in the next chapter!


End file.
